We propose to maintain a Child Health Research Center to train young pediatric faculty for the development of basic science research skills which can be applied to the study of important health problems in children. The central theme of the Center will be application of the principles and techniques of molecular cell biology to the investigation of a broad range of clinical pediatric problems. The Center will be composed of 25 training faculty, all of whom are well funded established investigators. The faculty are drawn from Pediatrics (12), Medicine (3), Anesthesiology (2), Microbiology (3), Cell Biology (2), Biochemistry (2), and Nutritional Science (1). Among the training faculty there are 13 MDs, one MD-PhD, and 11 PhDs, 22 Professors and 3 Associate Professors. These faculty have had extensive interaction in the past through research collaboration, teaching and as mutual members in various Center activities. We plan to continue to train faculty for research in a number of different pediatric subspecialities using molecular cell biology as the focus of their research. There is a pool of young assistant professors and postdoctoral fellows from different subspecialities who could conceivably benefit from CHRC support. Already 17 of these faculty or fellows are involved in research with mentors; their research falls within the theme of our proposed CHRC. To minimize overall costs and conserve funds for young faculty's research projects we plan to use shared pediatric laboratories and 7 multi-disciplinary Center Core laboratories. A Laboratory Coordinator from the pediatric faculty has already been appointed who will help access the various Core Laboratories and assess their use and value as well as providing training and technical assistance to CHRC recipients. he long with the Principal Investigator, Program Director and an Advisory Committee will oversee the selection of candidates for research support and the function of the CHRC. A minority recruiter will be added to the Administrative Staff.